As container shipping lines scale up, supply-demand imbalance intensifies

ONE’s container vessel (Source: ONE)

Shipping line ONE (Ocean Network Express) announced an aggressive mid-term plan on March 19 to increase its active fleet to 3 million TEUs by 2030, representing 66% growth compared to its fleet currently with an annual growth rate of 10% per year.

The plan will require a capital investment of $25 billion and an additional $10 billion in related assets over the next five years, which may also include the transfer of some assets from three shareholders, NYK, MOL and K Line.

According to Linerlytica, ONE's move represents a "belated attempt" to regain market share, after many consecutive years of below-average growth, it said since announcing the establishment of ONE shipping company in 2016, the Japanese consolidated shipping company has grown its fleet by just 30% over the past seven years compared to 40% market growth over the same period.

Source: Linerlytica

“These attempts by straggling carriers to play catch-up would further worsen the supply-demand imbalance over the coming years, with the next moves by other laggards including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd to be watched closely,” Linerlytica pointed out.

Meanwhile, the global container fleet reached 29 million TEUs last week as new ships continued to enter the market with nearly 200,000 TEUs delivered in the past month compared to just 2,200 TEUs of older ships scrapped.

“Despite the rapid fleet growth, charter rates have continued to rise with carriers undeterred by the recent freight rate correction with several still eyeing market share growth,” Linerlytica noted, adding that ONE's mid-term plan can only be achieved by doubling its current orders. Other laggard carriers are expected to follow suit.

Shipping lines are planning to increase rates in April following two unsuccessful attempts in March. Linerlytica notes that capacity utilization needs to increase rapidly to raise fares in order to maintain market confidence, which has been declining.

Source: Phaata.com (According to ContainerNews ) 

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